The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

Winner: New Writer of the Year - Specsavers National Book Awards 2012

When Harold Fry nips out one morning to post a letter, leaving his wife hoovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other. He has no hiking boots or map, let alone a compass, waterproof, or mobile phone. All he knows is that he must keep walking - to save someone else's life.

Harold Fry is the most ordinary of men. He just might be a hero for us all.

Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent has starred in a huge range of films, from British favourites including Bridget Jones, Hot Fuzz and The Iron Lady, to Hollywood blockbusters such as Moulin Rouge, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and the Harry Potter films. He is set to star in the upcoming film adaptation of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

Critics Review

One of the sweetest, most delicately-written stories I’ve read in a long time. One man’s walk along the length of England to save the life of a dying woman. Each chapter describes a different encounter along the way, with a definite nod to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Philosophical, intriguing, and profoundly moving.

Foyles website

Uplifting, funny and delicate

The Daily Telegraph

A wonderful book … Full of sadness, hope, and ultimately love. I found it very moving.

Esther Freud

Tender and funny, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry shows that even our frailties can be uplifting and redemptive.

Edward Stourton

Harold Fry is infuriating, hilarious and completely out of his depth, but I held my breath at his every blister and cramp and, felt, as if by turning the pages, I might help his impossible quest succeed. Marvellous!

Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

Compelling and truly wonderful. It made me laugh out loud at times and brought tears to my eyes. There are sentences that are just brilliant and well observed.

Goldsboro Bookshop

I was completely blown away. I thought I was about to read a comic novel but what can I say – it was indeed funny, but tender, ironic and deeply moving, a really wonderful book.

Harbour Bookshop, Kingsbridge, Devon

‘Jim Broadbent reads Rachel Joyce’s first novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, in a splendidly deadpan manner.’

Independent on Sunday

User Reviews

Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
5.0
5.0
I had read this book about 10 years ago and fortunately had forgotten the ending.
The whole book is a very moving journey in more ways than one, exploring Harold's life and the relationship with his wife Maureen, work colleague Queenie and all the people he meets along the way.
Jim Broadbent's narration is so good I could almost imagine the book was written for him to read.
Rocketman 14/12/2024

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